In the Shadow of Midnight
by Juno0712
Summary: Prequel to Dear Mom and Dad. Raven and Beast Boy are deeply in love and happily married, having achieved the perfect life they had always wanted, they decide that now is the time to finally retire from the super hero lifestyle. But is all that simple? BR


Heyya, guys

**Heyya, guys. Here's one of many updates I have in store for you all; again, I apologize for the lack of updates, life and every day problems gets in the way SO much. I've just finished my SATs exams**** the other week—which took up most of my time because of the amount of revision I had to do and such. I should have really updated this a week or so ago, but as 'luck' has it, I was distracted. Don't you just **_**love**_** realizing you were head over heels for an arsehole? Haha. Well, as they say, bad things happen and life goes on!**

**Anyway, enough about me, more about the story. ;D**

**Title: In The Shadow of Midnight**

**Rating: T**

**Summary: Prequel to **_**Dear Mom and Dad**_**. Raven and Beast Boy are deeply in love and happily married, having achieved the perfect life they had always wanted, they decide that now is the time to finally retire from the super hero lifestyle. But is all that simple? What strings are attached? And more importantly…what does fate have in store for them? Mostly BBxRae.**

**Dedication: To B****eth, Katie-Laura, Totty, Zoe, Rachell, Laura and Teri; the greatest gifts a girl could ask for, thank you all for being there for me when I was in hospital, and thank you for just being there in general—and for not making me choose friends. And, of course, thanks for being there for me during the time I was, to say the least, in a right state. I love you all.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. Full stop. End of story. Bye, bye.**

** I forgot to put one of those things on **_**Dear Mom and Dad**_** so this disclaimer applies to both stories.**

**Here we go…**

**Chapter one: In the Essence of Twilight.**

How long does it take for a person to snap? For a person to lose all they had ever stood for?

Not long. Not long at all.

Slade, the most common of all criminals—a nuisance to the police and local heroes—found this out the hard way. It's not easy to be beaten, especially by those you despise the most; in Slade's case, the Teen Titans; Robin in particular.

It didn't take long for his world of cunning plans and sinister plots of how to bring down the Teen Titans to come to an end. Three hours, maybe? Four? He didn't keep count. All he knew was that all his years of hard work had been in vein.

The Teen Titans had once again prevailed in bringing his latest plot to an abrupt stop. But this time the heroes had caused much, much more damage than a simple hit to the villain's ego. Far worse.

He had came up with the ultimate plan; it was fool-proof, unstoppable, and utterly genius in every way. An indestructible weapon that held each and every one of the Titans' weaknesses, it was a weapon that could destroy the Teen Titans once and for all. Or so he thought. The problem? No man-made weapon can withstand telekinesis or any other form of psychic abilities.

And so came the downfall of Slade.

Slade, although he liked to think of himself superior to fellow human beings, was, in fact, only human himself. No human could perform magic to such an extent as Raven without another mystic's assistance. But Slade, having already had bad experiences with magic and seeing first-hand what damage it does, wasn't oh-so-keen to return to it for a second 'joy' ride.

But did he have a choice?

"You may have succeeded this time, Titans, but it shan't happen again. Your downfall will come soon. In the worst way possible."

He had cracked. Truly cracked. Slade had always been twisted; demented, even, but this time he was sickened, fed-up of the constant failures, fed-up of coming so close to achieving his aim but crashing and burning at the last minute. Fed-up of _them_. Whether or not he had finally drove himself insane was a question yet to be answered, all that was known to Slade at that moment, on that day, was that he wasn't going to let himself be defeated any longer.

And he knew exactly what he was going to do.

--

Peace and harmony were the only two words you could use to describe Jump City, San Francisco. After a long, busy day it was a relief to everyone when the twilight finally engulfed the deep blue sky and the moon took the place of the burning sun.

The Titans had been together now for twenty-odd years, each and every one of them now well into forties. But throughout the decades, not one single regret had ever overcome them.

This, to some extent, was rather strange considering the Titans had done things none of them would have expected during their teenage years.

'_Like Mike and Miley…'_ Raven thought to herself with a soft smile spreading across her lips.

Despite her mature age, Raven's habit of sitting on the roof, legs dangling over the edge as she stared out into the horizon had never quite diminished. She still completely loved watching the sun set fade into night, the pink and orange sky turn to the deepest, darkest blues.

Almost as much as she loved Garfield

Raven and Beast Boy had both matured over the years, both of them still the people they had always been, but both of them had made significant changes.

Beast Boy was still a kid on the inside, always joking, always grinning, always reluctant to be serious about something. But at the same time, he had learned when to take something seriously, there came a point where he realized he couldn't avoid the world forever, and that was the day Beast Boy became The Changeling.

Still Beast Boy, but a far more matured version of the teenage boy he had once been.

Raven, after her huge struggle with Trigon all those years ago, had finally come to grips with her powers. The moment Trigon was defeated, Raven saw an insight to her powers that she had never seen before, she understood them more in-depth and was able to go about controlling them. Meditation, of course, was her answer. But not her normal type. Raven had spent days in her room, potions and special flowers of Azarath surrounding her, chanting a new mantra.

She didn't eat, nor did she sleep for days on end. The Titans became concerned, but Robin knew Raven was doing what she wanted to do, although he had not been told anything by Raven, Robin's gut instinct told him not to worry about his fellow Titan and to, in fact, let her get on with her business.

During the days Raven spent in her own mind, she fought her inner demons, and, with them, she brought the downfall of her fears and her weaknesses.

The Red Raven was no more.

It was, as it seems, the most significant change Raven had made to her life and thanked Robin for his co-operation. After this Raven was able to connect with the Titans in a way she hadn't been able to before. She laughed without a worry; she smiled a full smile and never cried an empty tear.

She had finally achieved the dream she had always wanted. And that dream was to be rid of the burden that restrained her so much. And, as that burden finally lifted, many things occurred that were once out of reach to the young mystic.

And that was confirmed each and every time she looked down at the ring bound around her finger.

"Hey." Came the voice of a particular green Titan.

"Hey."

The Changeling approached casually, his trade-mark grin plastered across his face.

"Todd settled?" Asked Raven, smiling up at the tall, handsome man.

"Yeah." He replied. "Miley sure has done well with that kid, y'know. Kinda reminds me of someone…"

Raven rolled her eyes, "yourself?"

"That's the one!"

She chuckled. Time, for Raven, had gone by fast. It seemed like just yesterday the two of them were at each other's throats. Then, aged seventeen, Raven and Beast Boy got together, having their first child, Mike, when they were twenty, and their second, Miley, when they were twenty one.

Mike was more like his mother in a lot of ways. He liked to take things slowly, and be careful. His skin was pale, not quite as pale as Raven's, but pale all the same, except for his cheeks which seemed to have a tint of colour to them, and would blush bright red at the slightest embarrassment. His hair was silky blonde and untidy, his eyes the deepest amethyst. He was tall and slim, but at the same time, quite muscular. From the outside he seemed like an ordinary twenty year old, but on the inside he was a true Titan and wanted nothing more than peace and justice.

Miley was somewhat the opposite of her mother when it came to being serious and, in fact, quite like her father. Miley from day one had always been the chirpy one and loved to be occupied every moment of the day. Her skin wasn't pale, nor was it dark, her hair was long and blonde with perfect curls, her eyes were electric blue with a hint of purple. And she, like her brother, had a rosy blush spread across cheeks but unlike her brother, Miley wasn't tall—merely average height and although she had given birth already, she was still just as skinny as her mother had been in her early days as a Titan.

"Nah. He's a great kid though. I can't believe we're grandparents…" The Changeling said as he sat down next to his wife.

"You said that when Michael was born…" Raven raised her eye brow, "and when Miley was born too, come to think of it."

Garfield laughed, "heh, guess I really need to get used to change."

"Yeah. You do."

"Way to be supportive." He winked, giving Raven a playful shove.

"Uh-huh." And with a snap of her finger, used her telekinesis to pick Gar up by his left foot, leaving him to dangle in mid-air.

"HEY! I'm getting too old for this…"

Raven giggled in amusement, and then let him drop to the floor. After all these years, they were still the same as ever. Always teasing each other.

There was a long silence as The Changeling eventually untangled himself from the heap he had landed in, and proceeded to join Raven in watching the twilight sky, both of them wrapped up in their own personal thoughts.

But Garfield decided he could wait no longer.

"Um. Hey, Raven?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking for a while now and…the team seems to be doing really fine, what with Mike, Rhys and Sapphire being part of the team, Miley's boyfriend—"

"Fiancée."

"…Miley's _fiancée _training to be a Titan, Nightwing still determined to be part of the crew until he's fifty…"

"Get to the point, please…"

"…D'ya think that we should maybe retire?"

Raven blinked, turning to face her husband in disbelief.

"Retire?"

"Um. Yeah."

She shook her head, "what brought this on, Gar?"

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, gazing out to the stars.

"Well…we've been Titans for ages. And…the team's doing great and everything, I just think that…I mean…" he sighed, "I think it's time for like…a new generation of Titans."

Raven continued to stare.

"I mean, there's our kids. Miley isn't all that keen on being a Titan…but she could do if she wanted. But Mike's a Titan. Both of Nightwing and Star's kids, Rhys and Sapphire, are Titans…Vic's kids are like mini-Cyborgs, they're all inventing new stuff to make the team better, and no doubt they'll want to get some kick-ass action too. And then there's Matthew. That makes…what? Six Titans? More than what we had. And, you've got to admit, they're stronger than what we were at their age…"

The Changeling turned to look at his wife, who, by this time, was still looking beyond shocked. He bit his lip.

"What d'ya think?"

Raven turned away from him.

"I don't know, Gar…I mean…it sounds great and all but…" she swallowed.

"But what, Rae?"

"Being a Titan is all we know. It's just…"

"I know it's a hard decision, but hey, I'll give you time to think things over, alright?"

"Alright…"

He smiled at her, "y'know I love ya, Rae." He looked over at the sky once again, "well…I'm off to bed. I'll give you some time to think things through. Let me know when you've reached a decision…don't rush yourself though!" he added hurriedly, giving her a peck on the cheek and retreating to his bedroom.

Raven sighed deeply, thinking over each and every one of The Changeling's words.

_New Generation._

Were they really getting that old?

She hugged her knees and rested her chin upon them. Being a Titan was the greatest thing that had ever happened to her. It proved that she truly was a great person; it made the difference between her and her father clear and distinguished. It gave her opportunities to redeem herself that she had never encountered before. In all, being a Titan was all she knew, and, to her it seemed like all she had ever done. As though she had waited her entire life just to be a part of the Titans.

It was a long while ago that they had stopped calling themselves the _Teen_ Titans. Back when they were all well into their twenties. Even then she had difficulties leaving their old name behind. But to leave it all together?

Of course, there were other possibilities, she reminded herself. She didn't have to stop being a Titan completely. She could still be back-up if necessary. But would she enjoy that?

She glanced at the door behind her and rose from the ground.

"I can't make any decisions yet…not tonight, anyway…" she muttered to herself, sighing once again as she threw one last look at the sky above her. The moonlight rebounded off of her face, exaggerating her every feature, its beauty reflected in her wide amethyst eyes.

And then she turned and left, leaving behind the peaceful twilight.

**Well, that's all for now. Hope you guys liked it!**

**You can expect more updates soonish…**

**Read and review. Thanks.**


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